In other solar panel-related news, a research team at IBM has developed a way to improve the efficiency of solar panels. Using a series of lenses to intensify the amount of light reaching each panel, the amount of energy produced was increased sufficiently so that the technology could result in lower-cost panels. But just as focusing a magnifying glass onto a piece of paper can raise the temperature enough to set it on fire, the lenses focus sunlight so intensely the temperatures can reach 1,600 degrees Celsius. That's hot enough to melt metal. The researchers borrowed some cooling ideas from the world of computers and were able to drop the temperatures to a more reasonable 85 degrees. The new technology provides approximate 70W/square cm of usable electricity.